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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Covid-19 issues  →  Thread

UC decision makers

Rosie W
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Welfare rights service - Northumberland County Council

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Total Posts: 470

Joined: 9 February 2012

I’m starting to wonder how many of these there are and where they are based. I’ve had two or three issues recently that would have been quick and straightforward to resolve in legacy benefits but which have taken weeks if not months in UC.

In all cases they were only resolved after a referral to a “Policy and Technical Team” and only after we had made a complaint or escalated it through the UC Dispute escalation numbers.

Responses on the journal or to letters from UC (no names and not signed) have just batted me off and displayed no understanding of the issues, the law, or their own guidance.

UB40
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Debt and Welfare Advice, Community Money Advice, Launceston

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Total Posts: 207

Joined: 29 April 2021

There are various teams of EO grade DMs throughout the DWP at various geographical locations. For instance there used to be a large team of Legacy DMs based at Old Tree Court in Plymouth.
The same subjects will be dealt with by the DMs under UC. For instance making determinations regarding youth estrangement, HRT, Sanctions, Mandatory Reconsiderations etc. Hope this helps, David.

Rosie W
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Welfare rights service - Northumberland County Council

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Total Posts: 470

Joined: 9 February 2012

Thank you David, that is interesting. I’m still unsure how to get UC to actually put something in front of a decision maker when we have specifically requested this and it is either ignored, or we get a response from someone at a service centre who does not specify their role and either does not deal with the issue or gets it wrong.

UB40
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Debt and Welfare Advice, Community Money Advice, Launceston

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Total Posts: 207

Joined: 29 April 2021

You are probably aware that there is no prescribed time limit for a Mandatory Reconsideration. I was told in October 2019 that there was a 6 month backlog of MRs. I also remember with UC Live on Work Services Platform and Camlite there was a 12 month backlog of Sanction decisions and the DWP decided to go down the route of a claimant amnesty. For an urgent matter, I would complain to my area senior ( District ) manager. It worked for me. Here is a list of appropriate email addresses.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-partnership-opportunities-with-jobcentre-plus/jobcentre-plus-district-managers-contacts-for-partnership-opportunities#contents